Make the most of your precious time off with the LondonTown weekend guide, which gives you the lowdown on the best events and things to do this weekend in London. Want it straight to your inbox? Be sure to subscribe to the weekly Something for the Weekend mailer.

The first National Portrait Gallery exhibition to be devoted to the medium of film, this major new display will focus on portraiture primarily through the medium of 16mm film. Tacita Dean's longstanding and personal interest in portraiture is shown through her films of influential figures like Merce Cunningham and Claes Oldenburg, both previously unseen in the UK, as well as Cy Twombly and David Hockney. Further highlights include her film diptych of Julie Mehretu, photographic works and two new films, 'Providence', made for the exhibition, and 'His Picture in Little', created specifically for the gallery's permanent collection. You can explore Tacita Dean's complete works at three major London galleries this spring: Portrait at the National Portrait Gallery, Still Life at the National Gallery and Landscape at the Royal Academy of Arts from May 2018.

This year's St Patrick's Day festival - the biggest ever held in London - takes place across the entire city with events in 33 boroughs over three days. For the grand finale, the St Patrick's Day Parade brings floats representing all 32 counties of Ireland to central London on Sunday 18th March. The parade makes its way from Green Park via Piccadilly and Whitehall to Trafalgar Square where Eoghan McDermott is joined on stage by the house band of RTE's Late Late Show. There's live music from KILA, followed by the Big St. Patrick's Ceili to get everyone dancing jigs and reels. Tribute will be paid to Cranberries frontwoman, Dolores O'Riordan, led by Lisa Lambe and Orla Gartland. There's more free entertainment with games, arts and crafts, walkabout performances based on Irish myths - look out for characters like Pirate Queen Grainne Mhaol and the giant Fionn MacChuaill. City-wide celebrations include open air Irish dance in Enfield, jazz in Hackney, music classes in Croydon and children's art and crafts workshops in Haringey. Join in with walking tours, open air gigs in Camden Market, Irish films at West End cinemas and Irish art at City Hall.

Returning to Olympia London for its second year, the Eat & Drink Festival brings together an exciting line-up of street food vendors, artisan food producers, top food brands and food experts from around the world. The Foodie Stage will see renowned chefs and experts from top restaurants cook up a storm, showcasing their skills with live demonstrations and sharing creative tips and culinary secrets. Chefs include Rosemary Shrager, Dean Edwards, Theo Randall, Angelica Bell and Aldo Zilli. Other event highlights include The Great Eat area, which will showcase the finest flavours in modern cuisine from across the world; the Drinks Station, where industry experts will teach you how to pair food with the right drinks; and Late Night Thursdays, when the country's top street food vendors will dish up meals to a soundtrack of live music from up and coming street musicians and artists. Visitors will also be able to take the experience home with them by purchasing goods from the Artisan Producers' Market. Visitors also get free entry to the Ideal Home Show, which takes place at Olympia London on the same dates.

Five decades of performance art by influential American artist Joan Jonas go on display in an immersive exhibition taking over Level 2 of Tate Modern's Blavatnik Building and in The Tanks. Originally trained as a sculptor, Jonas began experimenting with performance art, video and props after meeting choreographers Trisha Brown and Yvonne Rainer in the 1960s. The exhibition explores her personal items and her passion for story-telling, from the retelling of a Brothers Grimm fairytale to references to contemporary political events. Jonas is also the subject of this year's BMW Tate Live Exhibition, a ten day programme of live performance art in the Tanks.

Bringing together a collection of rare and sought after artworks, new exhibition Type takes over the Hang Up Gallery this spring. With a focus on text-based works, it will showcase items by some of today's most talented and exciting British artists with never-before-seen pieces by the likes of David Shrigley, Banksy, Harland Miller and The Connor Brothers. A mix of original paintings, drawings and limited editions, the works have a common theme of British humour with pictures overlaid by witty text and deadpan delivery.

The boundless Vault Festival is one of the most exciting happenings on London's fringe. Returning for its sixth year, the eight-week arts festival expands to include 300 new shows with a wide-ranging programme of performance, live music, discussions and one-off late night parties. Held at The Vaults in Waterloo's Leake Street tunnels, the line-up for this year's festival includes Neverland, by Theatre Deli and The Guild of Misrule, producers of the 2017's The Great Gatsby. There's immersive hip hop dance with Caravan while Lamplighters leads the audience through an improvised spy story in the style of John Le Carre. Chivaree Circus bring their award winning re-imagining of the classic myth of Persephone into a full 8 week immersive circus extravaganza and comedy comes via Edinburgh from Mat Ewins, Graham Dickson and Joe Sutherland. For the first time, the festival spills into Waterloo East Theatre and the Network Theatre plus The Caravan Theatre returns, bringing new short plays to audiences of up to nine in a caravan parked on Leake Street, and there's a dedicated comedy festival featuring stand-up from Joe Lycet, Bridget Christie, Richard Gadd, Mat Ewins and Phil Wang.

A combination of installation, performance, film, video, sound, and talks over a period of ten days transforms the Tate Modern Tanks into a space for performance art. In its second year, the BMW Tate Live Exhibition focuses on Joan Jonas, a pioneer of performance art. Unfolding over ten days and six nights, the exhibition coincides with a major survey of her work in the galleries above. Arctic landscapes, hanging crystals, myth-making and mystery are all part of the programme which opens with Jonas performing live together with her long-time collaborator, the celebrated Jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran.

The team behind London Cocktail Week and London Wine Week turn their attention to the nation's favourite tipple once again with the return of London Beer Week. Running in mid-March, it's seven days of beer, cider, stout and ale-filled fun, with special deals, pop-ups, tastings, supper clubs, brewery tours and masterclasses across town. This year's line-up includes a pizza pairing party in Hackney, beer yoga at the Nirvana Brewery, a Spirit of Prague banquet in partnership with Staropramen and several brewery open days across town. For the second half of the week, Over The Hop will take over The White Horse in Parsons Green and offer a daily changing menu of beer. Around forty hop-forward session-strength beers will be available to try.

A partnership between Tattoo Life and The London Tattoo Convention, The Tattoo Collective at The Old Truman Brewery showcases the best of British and Irish tattoo studios. Around 150 pioneering tattoo artists from selected studios have been carefully chosen to attend, giving visitors the chance to see them in action and to collect a piece from a panel of remarkable tattoo talent. Visitors can choose which artist they wish to be tattooed by and contact them directly to book and appointment at the convention. A number of walk-up appointments will also be available. You don't need to be getting tattooed to attend, however, as there will also be a selection of beautifully curated art exhibitions where you can purchase original pieces and limited edition prints.

Making a welcome return in 2018, the first Midcentury Modern of the year brings midcentury dealers and contemporary designers to Dulwich College. Run in association with Elle Decoration and described as "design heaven" by Orla Kiely, it has everything from original chairs to contemporary pieces by hot young British designers. Contemporary furniture brand Living Room, which offers a beautiful array of items, is just one of the stylish brands taking part. Discover designer pieces from Europe's best dealers downstairs and in the arches and hall at Christison Hall and top contemporary designers upstairs. The one-day show is at the historic Dulwich College, five minutes' walk from West Dulwich Railway Station. If you're visiting the area leave time to visit local attractions including the Dulwich Picture Gallery.